Season two of the HDT Talks Trucking podcast is now available, covering topics such as California’s AB5 law restricting the use of independent contractors, autonomous trucks, electric trucks, and reducing unscheduled downtime.

The podcast is hosted by Equipment Editor Jim Park, joined by HDT’s editorial team and various guest experts to give listeners expert analysis of industry trends and the stories behind the news.

Each season features six 20- to 30-minute episodes. A new season is released once a quarter. Season two’s episodes are:

Episode 1: Does California's AB-5 law mean the end of the owner operator?

This episode delves into the reasons for and potential impact of California’s controversial AB-5 law and other efforts to end employee misclassification. Our guests include Julie Gutman Dickinson, California local counsel to the Teamsters Union Port Division, Fred Potter, President of Teamsters Union Local No. 469 in Hazlet, New Jersey, and Joe Rajkovacz, director of government affairs and communications for the Western States Trucking Association.

Episode 2: Where is the Next Generation of Trucking Leaders Coming From?

HDT editor-in-chief, Deborah Lockridge, discusses HDT’s annual Emerging Leaders awards and talks to three of our past honorees about their views of trends and issues facing trucking, including what fleets and the industry can do to recruit and encourage young leaders like themselves. This episode features discussions with Olivia Young, director of marketing and national sales manager for Colorado-based Navajo Express, Kyle Kottke, general manager of Minnesota-based Kottke Trucking, and Zach Meiborg, president of Illinois-based Meiborg Bros.

Episode 3: Self-driving Trucks: Savior or Scourge for Trucking?

Driverless trucks are still a few years off when you talk about the long-haul sector, but they are already in play on other markets, such as drayage and terminal tractors. We are making real progress toward a time when self-driving trucks become commonplace, but there are still lots of questions. Richard Bishop of Bishop Consulting is an automated vehicle industry analyst, and he has been a watcher and player in this space since the early 1990s. He joins Jim Park in this episode to shine the light on this technology.

Episode 4: Electric Trucks Might Not be as Easy as We First Thought

Vehicle electrification is probably the most profound change ever to hit transportation -- and the trucking industry in particular -- but getting those trucks into widespread service will be challenging. Jim Park talks with Rick Mihelic, the director of future technologies at the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, about where we'll get all the energy to power those electric trucks, and how those trucks will change just about everything we currently know about buying, selling, operating, and maintaining trucks.

Episode 5: Making Sense of All Those Economic Numbers

HDT Editor-in-Chief Deborah Lockridge speaks with veteran trucking industry analyst and HDT columnist, Jeff Kauffman, who is also the managing director for Loop Capital Markets and the head of Tahoe Ventures, a transportation consulting company. Deborah and Jeff won't be trying to sort out where the economy is today, because everything is going to change. Instead, they'll be discussing aspects of the economy that affect trucking directly and helping you make some sense of some of the terms and numbers you hear in economic forecasts.

Episode 6: How Can Fleets Reduce Unscheduled Downtime?

Some fleets manage to do a very good job with certain maintenance tasks. That begs the question: if some fleets are so good at maintenance, why can't everyone else be that good too? On this episode, Jim Buell, the executive vice president of sales and marketing at FleetNet America shares some of the findings from the TMC FleetNet vertical benchmarking survey that shows how much better some fleets are than others. And Tony Morthland, the director of equipment and facilities at Nussbaum Transportation, shares his strategies for making the best of the time he has with his trucks in order to keep them off the hook between PMs.

HDT Talks Trucking is available on most podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and others, or at https://www.truckinginfo.com/podcasts

Related: HDT Talks Trucking Podcast Debuts with Episodes on Safety, Electric Trucks